Millicent Goldschmidt

2011 Evan Ferguson Award

Millicent Goldschmidt, a professor in the Department of Microbiology and Molecular Genetics at the University of Texas-Houston Medical School, has been selected to receive the 2011 Evan Ferguson Award for service to Sigma Xi.

A Sigma Xi member since 1949, she has served the Society in a variety of capacities over the years. The award citation reads in part: "As a world traveler and consummate educator, Millicent Goldschmidt serves as an emissary of outstanding service in various fields of science, often through her membership and leadership in Sigma Xi, but also through her enthusiastic dedication of more than 60 years to education, research and publication."

Goldschmidt began her career in science at Flora Stone Mather College of Case-Western Reserve University, where she earned her Bachelor's degree. She then entered Purdue University to work toward a Masters and Ph.D. "Biology in general always interested me and I took many subjects until Microbiology became the scientific area of greatest excitement," she once said. "The depth in biochemistry, mycology, and bacteriology [at Purdue] provided me with a background that enabled me a broad choice of future research and teaching areas. I have taught beginning freshman chemistry as well as medical microbiology to medical, dental and graduate students."

Teaching has always been an integral part of her career. In addition to her position at the University of Texas Health Center, she holds an adjunct professorship in the Department of Laboratory Medicine at the University of Texas M.D. Anderson Cancer Center. Among her other honors, the Texas Branch of the American Society for Microbiology has honored her with a "Lifetime Achievement Award."